Satellite television is television delivered via communication satellites, as opposed to ‘terrestrial television’ (e.g., conventional radio wave broadcast signal television and cable television). Satellite television services often provide a wider range of channels and services than terrestrial television, including subscription-only services. Satellite television, like other communications relayed by satellite, starts with a transmitting antenna located at an uplink facility. A satellite receiver demodulates and converts the signals from the satellite to the desired form (outputs for television, audio, data, etc.) for playback to the subscriber.
Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts which can cover both analog and digital television and radio reception, including video-on-demand and interactive features. A “DBS service” can refer to a commercial service or a group of free channels available from one orbital position targeting one country. One example of a DBS service is DirecTV™ which transmits digital satellite television and audio. In addition to residential consumers, satellite television services can be offered to businesses (such as bars, restaurants, hotels, dorms, and hospitals). A mobile service can be offered for cars, boats, and RVs, and satellite service for aircraft can be offered as well.
Pause functions are well known in devices such as VCRs. For example, if the audio/video source is a VCR tape or tapes, a pause can be implemented by simply pressing the pause button on the VCR and then pressing ‘play’ when an interruption period is ended to resume playback of the program(s). This form of pause typically does not require any special design techniques. However, providing a pausing real time digital streaming of hundreds of channels, such as found in an airplane satellite system, presents a challenging problem. This is compounded by the fact that typically a viewer is normally not in control of the video/audio program, other than being able to select content from what is available.